The Dance
by MuchTooOld
Summary: Korra is being forced to a ball to welcome the visiting Fire Nation Royalty. When an unexpected old acquaintance shows up, Mako is forced to deal with his feelings for Korra before she's gone.
1. Chapter 1

"This is a dance, Korra. This is a dance full of socialites and visiting royalty. _You_ _cannot wear your fur pelt._" Asami chided. The girl sat on the edge of Korra's bed, criticizing her latest choice in dress. Korra glared over at her, and tossed her clothes onto the floor. She slumped down in a chair, wearing only her underwear (as she was protesting all clothes, as she had told Asami, until something suitable could be found).

She was frustrated. She didn't want to go to this stupid ball in the first place. It had taken a lecture from Tenzin on how "her duty as the Avatar was not just about fighting and that she needed to learn more about the political side of her role," Bolin's and Asami's and Mako's promise that they would be there with her, and an official order from the City Council to convince her to go. But just because she had to go, didn't mean that she was going to be happy about it. At all.

Asami laughed at her frustration, which just caused Korra to become even more upset with the way things were going. She pushed her head into the chair and let out a scream. "This is hopeless."

Asami rolled her eyes and sighed, "It's not hopeless."

Korra flipped back over and scooted the chair so that it faced her friend. "I'm going to have to disagree with you on this. I have next to zero knowledge of your so-called 'manners.' I hate most the people I'm going to be forced to spend time with, stuck up little jerks, most of them… And I have nothing to wear."

Asami walked over to her friend and put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm going to be with you and I'll keep you from committing the more serious social sins. Bolin and Mako will be there to help keep you company so you don't have to socialize with too many of the 'jerks'," Asami stated, systematically countering her objections. Korra pouted as she realized that she wasn't going to have anything to complain about if Asami kept offering such good reasons why she wasn't going to have to complain. She then smiled as she realized that that her friend had not addressed her last point.

"Fine. I still don't have anything to wear," she huffed.

For a moment she thought she had won. She seriously thought that she had actually beaten her friend in an argument. She frowned when she heard Asami paw through her closet and whip out an article of clothing. "What about this?"

Korra turned around and realized that Asami has managed to find, under a ridiculous amount of fur and coats and other various pieces of clothing, the one dress she owned. She stood up slowly as she eyed it angrily. There was no getting out of this stupid thing now. She takes it out of her friend's hands and gently holds it. She didn't hate this dress, far from it. She just really didn't want to wear it. She racked her brain for an excuse for not wearing it. "It's a bit… old," Korra mutters.

Asami looks at it curiously. "Really?" She comes closer and examines it. "Well, no one here keeps up on the fashions in other countries, so it really doesn't matter if it's a few seasons out of date; it looks like it'll fit you just fine."

Korra smiles and shakes her head. It's funny how her friend thinks she would care about a piece of clothing being a few seasons out of date. "No, Asami. I mean… it's old. This was my mother's." Asami stares at it in surprise.

"Really? But it looks so new."

Korra laughed. This was true. The trim was still a pristine white and the patterns still stood out boldly where they were supposed to. The edges hadn't frayed a bit over the years and the blue that made up most of the fabric was almost as vibrant as when it was first pieced together by her Gran-Gran more than two decades ago. "There's really not that much reason to wear dresses where I'm from. I mean, you really only wear them when someone gets married, and my village is pretty small. The last wedding happened when I was in the middle of mastering waterbending, and that was when I was like, seven, maybe."

Asami listened to her friend with an intense curiosity. She rarely talked about life in the South Pole, and it was even more rarely that she talked about the actual village that she was from. Asami didn't really know how to respond to this slight peak into her friend's past, so she went with, "Well, then this is a perfect time to become reacquainted with the article of clothing known as the dress."

Korra looked up from the fabric; there was a strange kind of longing in her eyes. Asami wondered, not for the first time, if she missed her home. She wanted to ask her, but she never knew if they were close enough friends that she would let her in. "What do you mean reacquainted?"

Asami chirped brightly, "Well, if the last time you wore this dress was when you were seven, you're going to have a lot of catching up to do!"

Korra tilted her head curiously. "I've never worn a dress. I told you, I was in the middle of mastering waterbending when that happened." She didn't sound mad or sad, although there was a slight note of something in her voice. Maybe it was regret over having missed so much in her life? Asami had often wondered if her friend ever wanted to be normal. Usually she came to the conclusion that, no, Korra would sooner befriend Amon before she ever wanted to be normal, but tonight she thought that maybe sometimes she did.

Trying to steer the conversation away from the more depressing turn it was taking, she put on a bright face and ordered her friend to put on the dress. Korra grumbled to herself as she slid the 'stupid thing' over her head. Asami and turned around and changed into the deep red dress she had brought with her. She turned around to see her friend quickly putting her hair up into her typical style. She sighed in defeat and decided that she wasn't going to have a battle with her friend over her hair as well.

She slowly put her hair in a bun, which was a much grander feat than it sounded as she had so much of it. Korra finished putting the final clip in her hair and smiled at her. "You're getting awfully dressed up for a, what did you call it? Unimportant little ball," there was a teasing note that entered her voice. Asami was glad that her friend was back to herself entirely, even if she wasn't so pleased about the subject matter.

"A lady should always look her best," she retorted, a small blush blooming on her cheeks.

"So it doesn't have _anything _to do with Bolin being your escort for the evening?" Korra laughed her deep laugh as Asami's blush spread violently across her face.

"Oh, don't pretend that you're not excited about _your _partner tonight," she teased back. Korra glared at her, although Asami was happy to not she didn't deny that she was excited. She was so glad that her friend was getting to experience something as normal as a crush.

"Well… of course I'm excited. He's my friend," she says a bit too quickly. Asami was about to continue her teasing but the two young airbending girls burst into the room. Ikki was, as usual, more hyper than any normal child should be. But even Jinora was excited tonight.

"Oooh, Korra, you look so pretty. Why do you look so pretty? Is it because Mako is coming over? Is it? Is it?" Ikki said in one breath. Asami let out a peal of laughter while Korra glared and said "It's because I'm going to a ball," through gritted teeth. Jinora came over to Asami and tugged on her sleeve. Asami looked down at the young girl and smiled generously. She had grown rather fond of the eldest airbending child. She had always wanted a younger sister. "Yes, Jinora?"

"The boys are here to pick you up," she said in her soft voice. The two young girls giggled and then almost literally glided out of the room. The elder girls looked at each other. Korra and Asami were both surprised that the other looked nervous. Korra, as usual, took charge and started walking towards the door. "C'mon. We can't have them waiting too long or we'll never hear the end of it." Asami nods and they walk towards the pier.

They were met halfway by Bolin and Mako. Each pair took a moment to take the other in. The Sato family's generous donations had allowed the Fabulous Bending Brothers to splurge and buy new clothes for this advent. Bolin had easily transitioned into the formal suit. It was a deep brown that Asami thought brought out his eyes very well and it went perfectly with her dress. They quickly came together and she gave him a small hug.

"Heya, pretty lady," he said with all the confidence he had (which was quite a lot), "May I say you are looking exquisite this evening?" Asami giggled and nodded and took the arm that was offered to her. They began to stroll to the dock with Bolin calling over his shoulder for the other two to hurry up or they would be late (and not the good kind that Asami insisted existed).

The other pair took longer to take each other in. Mako was a bit taken aback. He wasn't quite sure how a dress could so alter how Korra looked, but it did. Her hair was the same, her face looked as it ever did, and her hard muscles stood out all over her body like they did, but for some reason seeing in her a dress made him finally admit to himself that yes, she was a very attractive woman that others were going to have their eyes on. Korra was as confused herself. She was so used to his worn out clothes that seeing him in these new clothes made her start to think how much more suited for the high life he was than she was. But she wasn't going to let him know that his clothing made her feel even more like the country bumpkin she usually felt around him, she smiled and grabbed his arm.

"Wha—" he began.

"Well, we can't let _them _be the better couple tonight, now can we, City Boy? I'm the Avatar and you are my date. We have to be the most outstanding pair there."

Mako shook his head and let out a small laugh. "You're correct there." He then properly offered his arm to her and she acted like she was overcome with emotion before she took it. The two laughed and began walking to the ferry, although much more slowly than the pair in front of them.

Korra was feeling better about this little shindig already.


	2. Chapter 2

When they had arrived at the ball Korra had been pulled away from them by Tenzin and a few other officials, leaving Mako alone with Bolin and Asami. The three were huddled in a corner of the ballroom (even though Asami insisted that the point of parties was to socialize with other guests) discussing what trouble she could've gotten herself in now with the higher ups, as it didn't occur to any of them that, as she was the Avatar, she could have actual business to discuss with them.

"I bet she trashed some roads again," Bolin whispered.

Asami shook her head, careful to go slow to keep the bun in, "We would've heard about that. I mean, the reporters are always eager to get what she does wrong out to the public."

Mako sighed and leaned up onto the wall. "Well whatever it was—"

"Why yes, young lady, I _do _happen to know the Avatar," entered a loud, slightly arrogant voice cutting off their conversation. The three turned towards the young man who had two young women hanging from his arms. He was dressed in the flamboyant red that Mako had started to associate with the higher ups from the Fire Nation and wore a small crown in the shape of flames in topknot his hair. The group's eyes narrowed at him. Many wealthy people liked to claim that they knew the Avatar and were close personal friends with her. It drove them insane.

The young man swaggered past with the giggling socialites continuing to talk about how well he knew Korra. Bolin turned to Asami, asking her if she had any idea who this guy was. Asami shrugged and whispered to them, "He must be part of the ambassador crew."

Mako let out a huff of annoyance, "Different country, same arrogance."

The young man wasn't quite far enough from him when he said that. The man turned around and faced him. He looked him up and down, "Do you have a problem with me?" His face twisted into a small, slightly supercilious smile. The group squared their shoulders, the boys puffing out more than Asami. They had had their fill in their lives of people talking down to them.

"Maybe I do," Mako replied evenly.

"I'm sorry, friend," the man replied, his smirk spreading across his face.

"I wouldn't really classify you as a friend."

The man seemed a bit surprised by the ferocity in Mako's reply. The two girls were behind him, obviously waiting for their rich boy toy to put this lesser person (even in their new clothes, you could tell that the brothers did not fit entirely in the glittering ballroom) into his place. But the man just looked him up and down and gave a small smile. "Alrighty then," he said with a dismissal air. He walked over to the girls and begins to talk about Korra some more. Bolin bristled along with Mako at how easily they were dismissed. Asami was angry on their behalf.

"Don't," Asami said. She took on her full-on high class persona now. She was haughty and snobby and condescending as she imperiously said, "Do not talk about Korra like you know her."

The young man turned around, still smiling, although now he looked a bit confused. "Pardon?" he asked politely. There was still something in his voice though, something that let them know that he thought he was more important than they were.

"You don't know Korra, stop bragging like you do!" Bolin answered for her.

The young man walked over to them. He was taller than any of them and broader than Mako or Bolin. If all of them weren't used to fighting against impossible odds, they might have found him slightly intimidating. He ignored the two brothers and stares at Asami.

"Have we met, ma'am?" he asked. She squinted, as if she was trying to see back into the countless parties she had ever attended. Bolin places a hand on her arm, trying to get the guy to notice who she had come with. Slowly, a light of recognition dawns in her eyes and she looks slightly terrified.

He reached the same realization, although he didn't look embarrassed at all. He looked happy. "Asami Sato! I haven't seen you in years!"

She bows deeply to him. "It's an honor for you to visit our humble city again," she slipped into her most formal tones. Bolin and Mako both looked at each other, each deeply confused at Asami's sudden shift in attitude.

He peered at these two. Mako glared back at him. The guy may know his brother's (for lack of a better word) girlfriend, but that didn't make him any less of a lying braggart, even if Asami was acting like he was a super important person.

Asami fidgeted with her dress. "May I introduce to you, Mako and Bolin, members of the fabulous Fire Ferrets?" she asked. Bolin reached out to shake the guy's hand, only to have it slapped away by Asami. "Bow," she hissed.

Bolin fumbled in his deep bow, he really had little grace outside of the arena. Mako gave a little head bob towards the guy. Asami looked like he had just committed social suicide. He wasn't sure who this guy was, but he wasn't going to give him any respect he didn't deserve, he figured he was just another rich (judging by his clothes), spoiled (judging by his obvious display of wealth), cocky (judging by how he kept claiming to know Korra and his attitude towards them) jerk.

Asami stared at him like he was slowly torturing a little animal. Clearly she thought this person was really high-ranking. Mako didn't care though. If he hadn't shown much respect for the _Avatar _of all people when he first met her, he certainly wasn't for some random rich kid from the Fire Nation. When Asami finally got over Mako's rudeness, she began to introduce them to him.

"Mako, Bolin, it is an honor for me to present to you—"

Korra chose this moment to break back into their group. "Ugh, politics is about as much fun as an angry turtle duck." She grimaced and then turned to face them all. She stared back and forth at everyone, trying to figure out why the mood felt so awkward. Her eyes drifted over to the stranger and she simply brightened up. Mako could've kicked himself, this guy actually did know her, and judging by the giant hug she gave him, she knew him fairly well. Actually the hug really had no bearing on how well they knew each other, she had given about the same size of one to a homeless man they met in a park once that she had previously met. The point was that she did know him. Bolin and Asami looked as embarrassed as he felt.

"Little Iroh! Why are you here?" she happily pipped.

"Little?" he screeched in a mockingly-offended voice. "Little? I'll have you know that I am at least a foot taller than you, Miss Korra." The laughed and she slapped him on the back. The gang was standing there awkwardly why the old acquaintances got to know each other again. She suddenly recalled that they were there though and with embarrassment turned to them.

"Sorry guys. Iroh, these are my friends, Asami, Bolin, and Mako." Iroh mumbled that they had just done that half of the introduction. Korra blushed. "Oh good, well, guys, this is Iroh, Crown Prince to the Fire Nation and grandson of Ambassador Zuko." Bolin and Mako's jaws dropped. Mako wanted to slap himself. He had just thought this was some minor royal figure. Turned out he had insulted one of the most powerful people in a country, brilliant.

Iroh didn't seem to notice their surprise. "It's nice to meet you," he said pleasantly. He then turned to Korra and asked if she would accompany him to meet his grandfather, she looked over her shoulder at her friends. Asami and Bolin urged her to go, eager to cover their earlier social gaff. Mako just gave them a nod of approval and watched them walk off, her arm linked with his and two angry socialites gossiping behind them. He glared after the prince. Just because he was royalty didn't mean he had to like him.


	3. Chapter 3

Mako glared at Korra and Prince Iroh. They were standing with each other on the other side of the room, laughing and chatting and teasing each other. He gritted his teeth together, trying to get this weird anger he felt out.

Beside him at the bar, Bolin was trying to comfort a mildly panicking Asami. If he hadn't been so annoyed with the whole Korra-Iroh situation that was occurring; he would've found it really funny. He had never seen her lose her cool this badly before. It was nice to know she could lose it.

Bolin patted her on the back and ordered her drink. "Do you think the South Pole is far enough away?" she asked miserably. Bolin looked around awkwardly.

"I… don't know… For what?"

She looked up at him, "To get away from this embarrassment."

Mako snorted, her melodrama distracting him from his internal anger. He swiveled in his chair and faced them. "It wasn't that bad," he told her.

She looked at him like he was insane. She sighed, "Do you remember that time I hit you with my moped?" He nodded slowly. Of course he did, you do not forget things like that. She continued, "And do you remember that time we got in that huge fight at that party and broke up?" He nodded again, wondering where this was going. "Well, this is worse."

Mako rolled his eyes and Bolin stifled a laugh. "Well, at least we can take comfort that he won't be staying here for long," Bolin said, choking a bit on his laughter.

Mako turned and looked at him. "What do you mean?"

Bolin looked confused. "Well… I mean, he's the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation. It's not like he's going to stay here." Mako immediately cheered up.

Well, he did until Asami murmured, "He might be finding a reason to stay." Mako's eyes narrowed again as he looked back over at Korra and Iroh. They somehow were standing closer to one another, giggling and smiling all the more. They were being moved from circle to circle of dignitaries together. He grudgingly admitted to himself that there did seem to be something there between them. They got along very well, much better than he got along with her, and they looked good together. The blue from her dress looked daring set next to his red robes. He started to grind his teeth together again.

Korra and Iroh slowly backed away from the Councilwoman. She had been droning on and on about Fire Nation culture and it was all they could do to stand there and feign interest. Eventually, another Councilman had come up and distracted her. This gave them an opportunity to escape. They slipped out of the party and found themselves on the balcony. A few other people were around them, but they left them alone.

"I _hate _these things," she groaned. "All anyone can do is talk, and I don't even think they say anything really!"

Iroh chuckled. "They say a lot. _You _just don't know how to listen right."

Korra rolled her eyes and leaned backwards on the balcony's railing. "I just don't get why they just don't come out and say what they want instead of all this politic-y mumbo jumbo that they do."

Iroh leaned back with her. "Well, that would just take all the fun out of being a politician, now wouldn't it?"

Korra smiled. "Yeah, well, luckily I don't have to do much of this. Most of my job is just bending."

Iroh glanced sideways at her. "I think you're going to have to do more politics than you'd like in your lifetime."

She stuck out her tongue. "That is a disgusting prospect."

He nudged her. "Don't worry; I'll help you through it."

She turned her head and beamed at him. "Really? Ugh, that would be perfect!"

They were quieter for a moment. "You know it would be more perfect if you were my wife." There was a muted gasp nearby and some shuffling of feet. But when the two looked up over to where the noise and come from, all that was there was moonlight making the tiled porch shine.

"Oh, now look what you've done. That was probably some stupid reporter and now all of Republic City is going to think we're engaged." Korra got up off the wall and crossed her arms over her chest. She glared at her friend.

He was bent over laughing. "I'm sorry, Korra. I-I just couldn't help but bring up the dreams of the past our elders once had."

Her scowl broke into a smile as she recalled the two men who had been talking about arranging a marriage for the two kids when they had been ten. What the adults didn't know was that Korra and Iroh had been eavesdropping and were thoroughly disgusted with the idea. All discussion of an arranged marriage was dropped when Korra had broken the stone table and sent the two elders flying into a snowdrift. Good times.

She tried to stay mad at her friend though, just because it was fun. "But won't your fiancé in the North Pole get jealous? And won't it ruin the engagement and cause some problems between your nations?" She thrust out her lip and pouted. "How am I supposed to depend on you for political advice when you make such a mess?"

He sighed dramatically. "I cannot help my failings, I suppose. What are you going to do with me?" He smirked. He knew if they played a fake fight long enough, Korra would just get frustrated and end up with the most stupid comeback imaginable. He loved hearing them. He filed them away for future teasing references.

But before their argument could continue, the Councilwoman had found them. Korra managed to sink into the shadows, but Iroh had no such luck. He gazed remorsefully over his shoulder while the woman regaled him with another long set of tales. Korra laughed silently and backed away quickly.

Asami was smiling again. She had collected herself and was dragging Bolin around, chatting with people and being so charming. It was like she was trying to erase any social misconduct that night by being twice the lady she already was. She looked glamorous, and some of her glory was even shedding off on Bolin, whom people were referring to as 'that gentleman'.

She kept part of her attention on the door that Mako had disappeared through. He had seen Korra and Iroh snake off into the night and decided to follow. He had moved silently and quickly through the crowds and hardly anyone had noticed him leave. She hoped he didn't do anything stupid out there.

They were chatting with a few lower-ranking officials when Mako snuck back into the building, well she was chatting, Bolin was eating the small bits of food that were being passed around. She smiled as she spoke. He always had the power to make her smile with the sheer amount of his adorableness and sweetness.

Mako was heading towards the door that led to the entryway of the ballroom. She didn't get a good look at him, he was moving fast. But she thought he looked heartbroken.


	4. Chapter 4

_Okay, I would like to thank everyone for not pointing out all my grammar and spelling mistakes I make, that's really nice of you. I would like to formally apologize and my only excuse is that I post and write these things at unholy hours when I should be sleeping because that's when I have time. Also, I don't even know what goes on in my brain anymore, so you all have to read this now… _

Mako was angry, but at whom he really couldn't tell. After a few minutes of contemplation he reached the conclusion that he was simply angry at everyone. He was mad at Bolin and Asami for convincing him that going to a party with the girl he had rejected months before was a good idea. He was mad at Iroh for being a prince and knowing Korra and making her laugh and being so good around her. He was mad at Korra for being Korra (but there wasn't really anything new there). But most of all he was just mad at himself. How could he have ever thought the Avatar was going to like him?

There had been a time months ago when she had kissed him and told him she liked him. But it hadn't been a good time for that and she hadn't brought it up since. In fact she treated him like nothing had actually happened and it kind of hurt, a lot. And then Asami had broken up with him and there had been a weird time when no one knew how to act around each other. But that time had passed and Bolin and Asami had grown closer and things had mellowed out in their group. And then Korra had asked him to this stupid ball and he had for a moment thought she might still like him. And then this happened…

He stalked outside and slumped down angrily on the marble steps. He put his head in his hands and let out a long breath. With that breath his anger seemed to leave him and all he was left with was an ache in his heart. He hit the stone beneath him without looking up.

A crackling chuckle reverberated from behind him. He tensed up, ready to stoically ignore whatever old geezer decided to come and watch him have his little tantrum.

"Rough night?" he asked. Mako didn't respond or look up to see who it was. He thought he was giving the universal sign for "I don't want to talk right now," but the old guy didn't seem to get the message. Dark red, billowing red robes settled by him, alerting him that this guy was probably Fire Nation royalty too. Well, that was certainly something he didn't need.

He looked up at the old man's face, ready to tell him that he didn't need to talk right then. It was wrinkled beyond belief and his chin was covered with a finely trimmed white beard, but none of those details were that important. Over the right side of his face was a light scar. Mako almost had a mini-heart attack once he realized who he was talking to.

The Fire Lord smiled benevolently at him. It was all Mako could do to give a weak nod in response to his question. The old man's grin widened at his speechlessness, "What seems to be the problem?"

Mako willed himself to speak, although he knew Asami would probably die of embarrassment and then come back to life to kill him and then die again if she knew he was talking to the Fire Lord about girl troubles. "I… uh… well this girl I like, who I shouldn't because she is literally the most infuriating human to ever have graced the planet, seems to have… another guy…" He tried to stay as general as he could, not so much because he was worried about saying that Korra was the stupid girl that had his head spinning at a million miles an hour, but because he didn't really want to offend the family honor of a guy who spent his teenage years obsessively hunting down a pre-teen to regain his honor.

The old man nodded sagely. "Korra is a handful, isn't she?"

If Mako hadn't been sitting down, he would've collapsed completely. He tried to stammer out that he didn't know who the Fire Lord was talking about or why he would assume, but the elderly man cut him off with by raising his hand. "You and she are about as subtle as the Fire Nation's armada." Mako blushed.

They were quiet for a moment as Mako tried to figure out what to say next. He really didn't know how to respond to the grandfather of the man who was engaged to Korra. He started to twiddle his thumbs. The Fire Lord sighed and let out a deep breath and began to speak again. Mako snapped to attention.

"Perhaps I saw this wrong, or heard her wrong, but I was rather the impression that she rather liked you." Mako looked away and shook his head.

"I hate to tell you, but your impression is wrong."

The ex-Fire Lord sighed and turned around, allowing his back to crack with each turn. "Maybe you're wrong, although I'm going to wager a guess that it's your impression that's wrong."

"That's stupid," Mako muttered before he thought about what he was saying.

"You're stupid," the old man retorted with a huff. Mako looked up at him, in a state of horror and confusion. The old man gave a goofy grin. "Well, I wouldn't give up on her just yet. Sometimes clouds have two sides, a dark and light, and a silver lining in between. It's like a silver sandwich! So when life seems hard, just take a bite out of the silver sandwich." Mako blinked twice rapidly, trying to figure out what on earth he had just said.

"Uh… thank you?" he finally managed. "I guess I will try that." The ex-Fire Lord smirked in satisfaction.

They sat there in silence as Mako tried to figure out if this really was happening in his life or if he had just hit his head really hard at practice and this whole night had just been a really messed up dream. He decided he would treat it as such until something started to make sense.

A messenger ran out behind them. "Fire Lord Zuko," he began.

Zuko cleared his throat and the messenger blushed, "Ex-Fire Lord Zuko, you are requested to present the announcement of your grandson's engagement and to convene with the council over the threat of Amon." With a lot of creaking of joints and grunting and a small push from Mako, Zuko stood up to his full height nodded that he was coming.

Before he left Mako gathered up the courage to ask the Fire Lord a question. "Sir?"

Zuko paused in his walk. "Yes, boy?"

"Why did you… talk to me?"

The old man turned and tilted his head, searching for an answer. "I guess I just have a soft spot for where the Avatar's happiness is concerned." He turned back into the building. Mako didn't make a move to follow. Was the Fire Lord, ex-Fire Lord, telling him to go and convince Korra to leave his grandson for him? Why would she do that?

He let out a snort of annoyance and tilted his head back, treated to the unexpected sight of two dark brown boots. He looked up and saw Korra looking down curiously at him. She squinted up her face, "Why, in the name of all that's good, are you out here?" Mako really couldn't answer that.


	5. Chapter 5

"I… was just getting some air," he replied a bit lamely.

She smiled, and he thanked whatever spirits there were that she was so utterly oblivious to clichéd excuses. Korra walked around him and he tilted his head back up to a more natural position. He didn't look to his side when Korra sat down beside him; he just stared at the city in front of him. He did happen to notice what she was doing though. He could see her awkwardly fidget in place as she sat in the mildly uncomfortable silence. Her restlessness began to annoy him.

"Why are you out here?" he snapped. He regretted his tone after the words left his mouth. He didn't mean to be so snippy. He was just confused by the ex-Fire Lord who had just happened to talk to him and the fact that Korra wasn't with Iroh while the engagement was announced. He could see her draw back. He turned to look at her and she looked mildly offended by his unwarranted bitterness, and by mildly, she looked like she was about ready to slap him into the bay some hundred feet away.

Mako took a deep breath to calm down. It really wasn't her fault that she was engaged to this Iroh guy, he was the one who hadn't made a move earlier. She could've been his if he had realized how badly he needed her sooner. "I mean," he stumbled over his words. "Shouldn't you be in there… while they announce the engagement… thing?"

She shrugged. "Nah, I've already told him congrats. There's really no point in sitting through some announcement just so I can see him smirking in that oh-so-boastful away as they talk about his princess."

Mako looked over her in surprise. He didn't understand why she would congratulations to her own fiancé… or why she would use the word princess, a word she usually saved for insults, to describe herself. She was still talking as he slowly put the pieces together, "I mean, she's nice and all, but honestly, she's a bit of a ditz. Not that that's a big problem or anything… I just really don't care to hear more about her, you know?"

Mako nodded, trying to keep his surprise at the his own dawning revelation that Korra was not, in fact, engaged to Prince Iroh. He wanted to slap himself for thinking she was based on one snippet of a conversation he had overheard, but he didn't want to risk Korra finding out that he had snuck out and followed her. So he simply replied with a hurried, "I know."

She caught the slight change in his voice when he said that. She knew him well enough to notice when something was wrong. "What?"

He quickly resumed staring at something in the distance, hoping she would get the hint and drop it. She didn't. Apparently she had the same skills in ignoring world-wide acknowledged signs of when to leave people alone as the ex-Fire Lord did. She prodded him in the side. "Come on, you can tell me," she said with a laugh.

Well he certainly wasn't going to do that. So he decided to change the topic. "I talked to Fire Lord Zuko," he blurted out.

Korra was a bit taken aback by his sudden outburst, but thankfully she decided to just go with it. "You mean, ex-Fire Lord Zuko, he's weirdly picky about his title, you know."

Mako nodded. "He was a bit weirdly… weird in general…"

Korra gave a quiet laugh. He turned and faced her, mainly just to catch a glimpse of his favorite of her smiles, the cute little one that she did after she would giggle. It was such a warm, infection smile and he found himself grinning as he looked at her.

"Yeah, he kind of is. Whenever he would visit the Southern Water Tribe I would tell Katara that."

"And what did she say?" Mako found himself oddly interested. It wasn't often she would talk about her home.

Korra smile turned a bit sad as she lost herself in her memories for a moment. "She said that ruling for so long without the people you loved by you did that to you," her voice dipped down lower and he leaned in to catch what she was saying. She looked up and they blushed. They were remarkably close.

Korra noticed how close they were and pulled back, blushing furiously at their proximity. Mako remained where he was. He bit his lip as he tried to keep his disappointment hidden, he hoped he was successful.

Mako broke the tension that was sure to build before it could even start. "Well at least he's nice." Korra jumped back into the conversation, eagerly trying to leave all awkwardness behind them.

"Yeah, he really is. He's always been my favorite of dignitaries. The other kings and leaders were always so formal to me when I was a kid; he would always teach me new little tricks or tell me how best to use firebending to sneak out, he was great."

Mako thought back to the old man's final statement as he had walked inside. "He must really care about you," he said softly.

She bit her lip and then leaned in close to him again. He was almost too eager to resume their former position. She dropped her voice very low, "I think he does like me… but I think he really cares about the part of me that's Avatar Aang."

Mako shook his head. "I think you're wrong," he murmured. They were so close now, and the best part of it all was, Korra wasn't pulling away. She had her eyes fixed on his and neither showed any intention of looking away.

"Why?" she breathed. He could feel her breath on his cheek.

His eyes lowered slightly and looked at her lips. "Because no one can know you personally and not care about you." Somehow her hand had wound up in his and he was gripping it tightly, almost as if he was afraid she was going to fade away if he didn't hold on.

Her breath hitched when he said that. They leaned in together… they were so very, very close now.

"Hey, bro, you gotta come in here! They're going to start the dancing," Bolin called to him as he and Asami strolled out of the building. Bolin flinched when he saw Korra and his brother spring apart. As they turned to glare at him, he slowly started to back away, looking to Asami for some support. Unfortunately for him, she was glaring at him too. "What?" he mouthed.

"We're going to go back inside," she called to the couple, her eyes piercing into Bolin as she tried to make him understand what they had interrupted, "You two just come in when things… get better." And with that she yanked Bolin back inside, despite his protests that maybe they should help them, because obviously they were getting nowhere alone.

Mako continued to glare at his brother until he was out of sight, studiously ignoring Korra, who had managed to scoot her way to the other side of the stairs some ten feet away. He cleared his throat when his brother disappeared and then stood up. He gathered up all of his courage and what was left of any sort of tact he had and looked up. Korra had gotten to her feet too and was warily looking over at him. They both had no idea what to say. Thankfully the messenger came out and informed Korra that her presence was requested by the Councilmen, otherwise the two teens would've stood there awkwardly all night. Mako could practically feel her relief. She cast on apologetic look his way and then turned to dash inside.

Mako hung his head and balled his fists up inside his jacket. Before he could sink too far into self-pity, Korra called out to him. He spun around to see her walking backwards into the building. "Hey, City Boy, there's dancing in there." She pointed behind her. She was using all of her limited sources of suave as she talked to him "You should… come in and when I'm done with the old coots we should… dance."

Mako practically beamed at the suggestion. He had almost given up on this whole night, but maybe there would be a way to get a good memory out of it after all. "After all, you are the Avatar and I am your date. We can't let any other couple out stage us!" he yelled after her.

She laughed and went inside.


	6. Chapter 6

When Mako finally walked back into the gala, everyone was dancing. Well, the sentries from the metalbenders and Fire Nation guard weren't, they were standing sullenly at their given posts. But everyone else was a flurry of movement and laughing and there was a definite mood of celebration in the air. Mako really couldn't see himself why everyone seemed to care so much about a wedding for a nation that was half a world away, but even he felt himself getting caught up in the festive spirit.

Although he would never admit it to anyone, he loved dancing. And he was actually really good at it. His mother had taught him the basic steps when he was around the age of six, but for the most part, he learned to dance on his own. Bolin had often urged him while they were in bars to just go and grab a girl and dance and have her swoon head over heels in love with him, but Mako had always turned down those offers. He only danced with the girl he was dating… and that meant he had had a total of two dance partners in his life.

He looked out at the crowd and saw Asami and Bolin dancing together. Well, Asami was leading them around and Bolin was moving in a semi-coordinated fashion. They were absolutely beaming though. Their smiles were infectious even from the distance they were at and he found himself grinning too. His grin slid off and his jaw fell open when he spotted Korra, twirling alone by herself in the crowd.

Wouldn't you know it; he wasn't the only one who could dance. He wondered if her training as a waterbender or if she had at some point taken some sort of dancing lessons because she was absolutely flawless on the floor. It was almost like seeing her bend, except where she was awe-inspiring and overpowering in bending, in dancing she was soft and fluid and graceful. Those who were near her didn't even try to go up to her and dance with her; they'd never be able to keep up. Instead, a small crowd had formed in the midst of the dancers as she began to draw a crowd.

He wasn't entirely sure how he had arrived at this circle, he didn't remember walking towards it or even having plans to, but suddenly he was at the front of the onlookers. Korra didn't notice him; she had her eyes closed, oblivious to the world. He stepped forward to her and grabbed an outstretched hand.

No one had asked her to dance, and she hadn't expected them to. Either she was this bizarrely out of reach figure that they were afraid to approach or they had their own dance partner. So she had decided that she would enjoy it while it lasted and not look for a dance partner, especially since Mako had elected to stay outside.

But then someone had grabbed her hand. Korra's eyes flew open at the contact and her head swiveled around to find whoever had touched her. She had, in all honesty, even though Iroh had been dancing with the girl he had been flirting with earlier (all in good fun, he assured her, nothing would deter him from his little ice princess), expected it to be the Prince standing in front of her. She was about to tell him that she did not need his pity dance at all until she realized that it wasn't him. Mako stood at the other end of her arm, smirking away.

Well, she most certainly couldn't let him smile at her like that without reason. She pulled him close to her and then let him out so that he twirled away from her. He frowned, clearly confused by what she was doing. She wondered if he actually thought that he would be leading this dance. His look of confusion was quickly replaced by one of calculation and he started towards her and grabbed her by the waist and arm and dipped her backwards.

She blushed furiously as he slowly brought her back up and slowly brought his hands up so that they rested in her hands. "Oh, you wanna dance, City Boy?"

His lips curled into a smile and he nodded. She mimicked his look as they pulled apart and began their graceful struggle to try and gain dominance in the dance, oblivious to the growing crowd around them.


	7. Chapter 7

Bolin and Asami were in the crowd watching Korra and Mako dance. It was rather hypnotizing. They were both just so good at it, and Asami had had no idea. Korra was unbelievably graceful, not one foot out of time. Mako… Mako looked absolutely flawless and matched her step perfectly. There was a slight pang in her chest as she watched them. It had been so long since they had been together… but still. They had never danced like that.

Bolin noticed her silence. He turned his head towards her and away from the spectacle of the dance. "Hey," he muttered. She turned to him and gave a small smile. "You alright?"

She waved her hand dismissively. "I'm fine, Bolin, just thinking…"

Bolin looked mildly offended. "Thinking? At a party, you are committing blasphemy, my good woman." Asami let out a small laugh. Bolin could always make her laugh, even when she was being silly and sad like this.

He tugged on her arm and pulled her away from the fray. "Where are we going Bo?" she giggled. He just smiled and kept guiding her until they were far away from the Avatar's throng.

"Bo…" He put a finger to her lip and then grabbed her hands.

"My dear, may I have this dance?" she looked a bit taken aback. She didn't know he could dance. She nodded in comply and he pulled her towards him. She gasped aloud as he quickly dipped her and then brought her back up to his chest, closer than she had been before. Her eyes met his and he grinned.

He twirled her out, keeping time with the faint music they could just hear. When he pulled her back to him he bent down to whisper in her ear, "Mako's not the only one who can dance, you know." She blushed furiously as he whipped her around to face him and placed his hand on the small of her back. He gently took her hand as she placed her other one on his shoulder. They danced slowly together in time to the much slower pace of the music.

Mako and Korra were taken by surprise when the music changed. One second they had been moving as fast as they could to keep in time when the rushing music, the next they had stopped, bodies remarkably close to each other, standing still as the music changed tempo and a soft tune drifted over the hall. Everyone else seemed to notice that the spectacle was over and dispersed.

But Mako and Korra remained still. They hadn't moved since the music changed, even though a small part in the back of their minds knew that they should because people could start staring and it would become awkward… but they didn't move.

Someone (and Korra would forever blame Iroh for this, even if he feigned innocence till the end of his days) whistled in their general directions and both of their faces went entirely red. Mako looked up while Korra looked down and both tried to speak at the same time. "Uhm… Korra…" he muttered.

That was all the invitation she needed. She closed the small distance between them and lightly pressed her lips against his. They had done this before and there had been so many more reasons to not to then; it shouldn't have been as hard to do this time as the first time. Mako hesitated for a millisecond then pressed back. She wrapped his arms around his neck and he pulled her closer by the waist. They were like that for a moment, oblivious to the stares of people who had all of a sudden become much more interested in the Avatar again, then another whistle (she knew it was Iroh, and one day far, far into the future, she would get him to admit it) jolted them back.

They pulled apart quickly, both of their faces slowly growing more and more red by the second. Mako, partly to cover his embarrassment, grabbed her by the hand and pulled her away out of the middle of the dance floor to the outer edges, away from most of the prying eyes.

"Do you want… to get out of here…"

Korra's eyes widened. "Mako," she said her tone a bit disbelieving.

His eyes widened in embarrassment, "Oh, no! Not like that, like out… to the balcony."

She blushed again (one day, she swore silently, she would learn to control herself) but quickly recovered. "Yeah," she said brightly. "Let's go!" She pulled him by the arm out towards the balcony.


	8. Chapter 8

**I LIVE… well sort of. Finals ended and I have been freed for like a month. So maybe I will actually stay on top of stuff like these fics… I am trying to do some original writing so I don't know. Also, reading through my old fics I've realized how terrible I am with spelling and typing my words and I am using this as an official apology. Sorry I suck **

The two broke out into the fresh air and away from the crowd. They smiled at each other and walked over to the railing of the balcony. Korra looked over at Mako, wondering what he wanted to talk to her about. She waited for him to start the conversation. Mako shuffled his feet and looked up at the moon. Korra looked around for something to fill the silence. It was mildly awkward. Korra cleared her throat. "You know…" she said slowly. He looked over at her. She stopped her sentence and forgot where she was going with it. There was something in his expression that she just wasn't used to, something that threw her a bit off balance.

"Yes?" he asked. There was a small smile on his face.

" Um… Did you know that I know the moon?" She smiled at his confused expression. Inwardly she was kicking herself. _Who says something like that? He is going to go back inside and tell Iroh and then he will never let it go. As long as he lives he will never let this conversation go and then they will both laugh at it together forever. _Korra's thoughts sped on like this, despite her knowing that Iroh and Mako had only just met.

But Mako didn't laugh. He just shook his head and smiled. "I actually had no idea that you knew the moon."

Korra smiled and looked down at her hands. "Apparently she and Aang were really good friends. So I guess you could say we're on first name basis," she laughed and then rubbed the base of her neck. The conversation sort of died away. She wondered what other silly little fact she could draw up to keep them talking. She wondered why she was so bad at talking whenever they were alone together.

Then suddenly he took a deep breath and grabbed her hand. She stared at their joined hands in mild confusion Mako smiled at her. "Korra…" he said slowly.

Before she could say anything about it Mako blurted out, "I love you." If she had been drinking anything she would have spit it out. She started to splutter as she tried to wrap her brain around what just happened. "I know… that you have a lot of better options out there than me… but if you could… maybe…" Korra couldn't wrap her mind around what was happening. Sure, she and he had just danced and it had been amazing, but she could have sworn that it was only her heart that had been racing four million miles an hour.

She didn't say anything. Mako took his hand off of hers and started to pull away. "I'm sorry…" He wanted to jump off of the balcony. He should have known that it was only him who felt what he felt during their dance.

Korra spun around after him. "Wait!" She grabbed his wrist and spun her back around to meet her. He turned around and knocked into her, sending them towards the railing of the balcony. Korra felt the rails press into her waist as Mako stood directly in front of her. For a second, all stood still. Then Korra reached up and brushed her finger across his cheek. His eyes widened in shock and he began blushing furiously. "I… I kinda love you too," she whispered.

She slowly lifted herself up on her toes to meet him. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and kissed him. Mako was frozen in shock for a moment. Then he grabbed her waist and pulled her closer even closer to him and kissed her back. One of his hands remained around her waist while the other slowly moved up her back to her neck. He slowly traced his thumb over the base of her neck while she pressed her body closer to his. After a few seconds of this he pulled his mouth away and rested his forehead on hers.

Their eyes met and they both let out a nervous laugh. She fingered his collar as he cradled her in his arms. "Well…" she said after a moment. "Hmm?" he asked. He didn't take his eyes off of hers. "I guess this ball wasn't the biggest waste of time there is." He laughed and pulled her in for a hug.

She buried her face into his shoulder. "Korra, how long before they start to miss you?" She smirked and pulled back so she could face him. "I would say we've got a good fifteen minutes." He cupped her face in his hands smiled.


End file.
